The Bottom Line
Pros
- Couch to 5K program allows anyone to get started as a runner
- App is simple to navigate, set up, and use
- Customizable settings (e.g., turn audio alerts on or off)
- Allows users to play their own music (up to 100 songs)
- Record and share workouts if desired; compatible with Nike+
Cons
- No prompts or how-tos for stretching
- Removing a single track from the music playlist isn't intuitive (but is addressed in help section)
Description
- 9-week program for running beginners
- Each workout is 30 to 40 minutes long (including warm-up and cool-down)
- Tracks workout history
- Listen to your own music via a customized playlist
- $2.99 from iTunes
- Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later; works with iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad
Guide Review - Couch to 5K Program App for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad
If you want to start running and you have an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, this is the app to get. Developer Alex Stankovic took the existing, popular beginners' running Couch to 5K program and turned it into an app. [NOTE: After I wrote this review, in November 2011, the app's name was changed to Ease Into 5K.] The couch to 5K program takes you through an incremental, nine-week plan, starting with a 20-minute session that includes eight 60-second jogs alternating with 90-second walks (plus five minutes each of warm-up and cool-down). By the end of the program, you'll be able to run 30 minutes without stopping.
The couch to 5K program app supplies visual and audio cues so you know when to walk and when to run, without having to keep track of time and intervals. At the same time, you can listen to your own music from your iTunes library. The app keeps track of your progress, starting you off on the next day's plan each time you reopen the app after completing a workout. You can also keep notes on your workout, such as how you felt, whether you ran outside or on a treadmill, and so on. You can opt to share these notes via Facebook or Twitter right from the app.
I downloaded this program for my iPad because I had been doing some walk/run workouts on my own, but didn't like calculating how many minutes to do, then constantly looking at my timer or watch to follow my progress. I also wanted to increase the number of minutes spent running and needed some kind of program to coach me through that. This couch to 5k program app does that.
Because I have an iPad and not an iPhone or iPod Touch, I can only use the app when I am on a treadmill (where I can prop the iPad up on the display area). I still value the prompts I get from the app even though I can see my time elapsed on my treadmill display. And of course, these prompts are even more useful if you are running outside and don't have a big digital clock right in front of your face!
This app was easy to use without reading any instructions; just download and go. There are some easy settings to turn on and off, such as whether you want the songs on your playlist to shuffle or not, whether you want reminders that you are halfway through your workout, and so on.
My one wish for the couch to 5K program app: I would love to be able to flip to a screen with suggestions or prompts for post-workout stretches. It's easy to forget to stretch after a run or to be confused about what stretches to do and how long to hold them. Since the app contains a warm-up and cool-down, it would be great if it also included stretching how-tos.
Once you complete the 9-week training program, you can use the app to do maintenance runs of 30 or 45 minutes. I'm not sure how useful this would be unless you like the prompts that chime in occasionally to tell you how many minutes of running you have left. (You can also use this feature to log and track your runs.)
Still, for $2.99, this app is a great buy for beginning runners with compatible devices. (You can also find a version of this app for Android, and other scaled running apps from other publishers, but I have not tried them.)
